


Courting Conundrums

by thisisfaycountri



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-08-19 20:49:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20216068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisfaycountri/pseuds/thisisfaycountri
Summary: I'm not going to lie- this is just my test dummy for smut. I'm not good at it and this is my plot bunny to get better. There's plenty of plot, but there's a juicy bit in almost every chapter so far, even if it's just in a daydream. so not PWP, but not a regular story, either?





	1. Chapter One

_ “Please, please, please….” my voice is breathless and I’m not sure what I’m begging for. All I knew was that if the hands-on me didn’t move soon, I was going to burst into frustrated tears. A low chuckle has my head falling back and a moan leaves my lips as the searing hot kisses to my chest migrate lower. _

_ “You beg so beautifully.” is murmured against my skin, and I whine again. My legs are nudged apart, and I move willingly, molding to how he wanted me. I was splayed out on a bed, soft and silky sheets underneath me. I was sitting up, but my head was thrown back and I wasn’t focused on anything but the body before mine nad the torture they were trying to inflict on me. _

_ “What is it you’re begging for though?” is mused as those lips skim lower, over my hip and dangerously close to where hip meets groin. Something brushes my straining erection. _

_ “Fuck, please! I don’t- I can’t-” my sentences are broken as I try to focus, even with the hands crawling up my thighs and the warm breath teasing over me. _

_ “Please? Please, what? Do you want me here?” there’s a pause as a hand latches onto the base of my cock suddenly, making me jump up with a yelp at the sudden fierceness of it. When I land on the bed again I’m sprawled on my back. _

_ “Or maybe you want me here?” the other hand trails up as the other begins a slow, rhythmic moving. I moan again but still as the hand moving reached my face, then my mouth, and then two digits thrust in against my tongue. They begin moving along with his other hand around my shaft and I moan and whine around them. This is easily the most arousing thing I’d ever done. Sucking on the two calloused fingers in my mouth while my hips rolled to fuck up into his hand. His face looms over me and he’s smirking, but his eyes are blown wide and as he presses closer I can tell how excited he was. Suddenly he clamps down on the base of my cock again, obviously realizing I was going to come from this action alone. There's a few moments of him just hovering, watching my face as I moan around his fingers , before the fingers move from my lips. The trail down my throat, leaving a damp path that makes me shiver. _

_ “Or maybe, perhaps…” the hand travels farther, swirling around my navel. _

_ “The little kitten is begging for me to pay attention?” he starts stroking again and I let loose the loudest moan yet, making his smirk brighten again. His fingers trail past my cock and his other hand and I spread my legs wider and buck my hips again, getting a small laugh. _

_ “Just maybe, you want me to fuck you?” he murmurs as the first finger circles my entrance. I whine pitifully but nod, eager and willing for whatever it was he was trying to throw my way.  _

_ “Is that it baby? You want me inside you? Fucking you raw until you can’t even walk down the stairs to have dinner with my parents?” the voice is right at my ear, nipping at it as one finger roughly enters me and sends me over the edge. _

I bolt upright in alarm, panting and sweaty. I glance frantically around, but Ron is still asleep. I thank god for small miracles and rush to the washroom across from the door. 

Good fuck, I’d done it again. At least three times a week I woke up like this, either needing a cold shower or needing to clean up. I felt dirty and wrong every time but while in my dream….

_ Is that it baby? _

I shudder at the echo of my dream and my bodies valiant attempt at an erection. I was too exhausted though and only got an over-eager twitch before I settled down again. I head back to Ron's room, rolled over onto my side, and tried to go back to bed.

I’d been having dreams like this since I was 13 and realized that, much to my surprise, my best friends older brother was hot. I’d been scandalized, and embarrassed, and then resigned. I was two years younger than them, a year behind them in school. There was no way that they were going to even glance in my direction. On top of that, he had taken Kate Bell to the dance my fourth year, and they seemed close enough to make it clear that he was into birds and not blokes. This year, their seventh year, they were so focused on the joke shop with their brother and quizzes that I doubted I’d even see them in the common room. I was over the fact I would never have him, but my imagination was only getting better as I grew up. And after a curious, drunken run-in with Seamus at the beginning of the fifth year- well, let's just say experience made it even easier to conjure up all sorts of thoughts when sleeping.

Now that I was 16, everyone was talking about courting, and presents and letters and my head was spinning. Sirius had explained to me that it was a tradition that even Muggleborns still took part in. you could date up until you was 16, but after that, if you liked someone you had to go about it properly. A formal letter to the parent or guardian- of which, I’ve heard, Sirius was having a gleeful time denying every single one sent his way so far- if denied, you had to wait 6 months. If accepted, you had to acknowledge that was only from the parent or guardian and that the person could deny them, too. And then there was the possibility that they may not like the role that you suggest them in. especially in gay couples. They took on a dominant and more submissive role dynamic, though some were purely only in writing and didn’t care much either way. 

It was all very confusing. There were rules on what you could give as gifts, when you could meet, when you were allowed to go out and where, and at any time the parents could go no, you’re no longer a good match and pull the courting. Your parents could also send  _ out _ offers, which was something Sirius wanted to do with me later today. I was dreading it.

“Harry, you need to eat up! You’re too skinny.” Molly’s voice has me glancing up and smiling wearily. 

“Sorry. Just not looking forward to meeting up with Sirius today.” I murmur, obediently biting into a piece of toast.

“Nonsense, it’s exciting! Sending out offers is always thrilling.” She chides me, pouring more juice into my glass as she walks by. I roll my eyes and send Ron a help me look, and he just shrugs.

“Mums already sent mine out.”

“And she took George and I’s list and sent our yearly ones out too.” Fred pipes up as he walks in, a distracted look on his face as he looks over a paper in his hands.

“You’re not- I thought you were with Angelina and Kate?” I ask in shock. He focuses on me then, and he’s got a small, funny smile on his face.

“We’re just good friends. Neither one of us are picky, but George prefers guys and I prefer…. Well, she’s not of age yet, so I just give mum one or two names I know won't reply a year.” he says with a wink. I’m floored by this information, but for the first time in years, hope is nearly bursting through me. George preferred men. Preferred men and wasn’t already in a courting. 

Fuck, did I have a chance here?

“None of my of age kids are in courting contracts dearie,” Molly says, obviously ignoring Fred's last sentence.

“Oh. Bummer. I was going to ask for some advice before I left.” I cover, trying to look as bored as I had been before. Fred goes back to his piece of paper, and Ron is too busy eating to notice. I get about halfway through the food when George walks in, half asleep and half-dressed. His pajama pants are dangerously low and the dark red hair smattered over his chest and his head was in disarray, obviously having rolled out of bed before coming down. 

“Heya Harry. Have you gone through your contracts yet?” he asks, a look I’m not sure about on his face.

“Sirius is. He says he has five for me to go over with him and the rest are denied. He also said I had to bring a list with me today in case I didn’t agree with any of the five.” I can feel my nose scrunching in distaste and Molly chuckles.

“Did you make a list?”

“No.” I practically whine, putting my fork down and losing my appetite completely.

“Hush, hush. It’s not a problem, we can help you,” she exclaims.

“Sure, yeah. Keep eating, tells us what you’re looking for and who are hard nos and we can help you with the list.” Fred encourages as he folds the paper and tucks it away. George is more focused on getting coffee at this point, and when I shoot Ron a pleading look he shrugs.

“They could help.”

“I don’t want to make a list though.”

“It could make you realize who you want faster.” Molly disagrees. A quil and a piece of paper appear next to Fred's plate and he gives her a thankful smile before turning his attention on Harry. 

“Okay well, preference?”

“Tall males,” Ron says slightly dryly, and I gap at him. He laughs.

“You didn’t think I would notice? You eye up any handsome guy over 5’10. And don’t think I didn’t catch you sneaking out of Seamus’ bed one-time last year.” 

I go to retort but there is a loud crash and a yelp from George, who is now wearing his coffee. His skin is turning pink where the liquid had hit him and he’s blushing furiously.

“I didn’t think it was that hot!” he exclaims as he frantically wipes it off and Molly repairs the mug that had hit the floor. 

“Right. So you want Seamus, Dean, and Neville on there?” Fred asks after giving his twin an exasperated look.

“Not Seamus no.” I disagree. It had been fun but I had felt extremely guilty for using the redhead.

“Hmmm. well, Lee can go on there, and Krum, I know you still talk to him. Zabini isn’t that bad, we discuss products sometimes…. Diggory, I know you got on with him. What about finch-fletchley or Macmillan?”

“No, to either of them. They’re assholes.” 

“Language Harry,” Molly says from the stove. I make a face but shake my head no still.

“Right well. This is a short list but a list. Everyone else is either in a contract already or into women.” he murmurs to himself before sliding the list over to me. I fold it without looking, nodding, and slide it into a pocket.

“Sirius will be calling in five minutes, are you ready?” Molly calls up the stairs. I had gone back to Ron's room to do some reading before I had to go to Grimmauld. I place my bookmark and move down to the fireplace. When it turns green I give Molly a wave and step through to my godfather's study, where I’m wrapped into a huge hug.

“Hello Siri,” I laugh, hugging him back.

“I can’t believe it! Remus is in a perpetual state of grouchy because of all the birds coming in.”

“Huh? How many requests have you gotten?”

“Oh, easily several thousands,” he says brightly. I feel my face whiten.

“Thousands?”

“Don’t worry, I only saved five for you. Did you bring a list?”

“Er, yeah, Fred helped me go over it this morning,” I tell him wearily. His eyes narrow as he leads me towards a cozier room where Remus was reading a book. When he looks up his face brightens and he stands to hug me too.

“You don’t sound thrilled about any of this.”

“I’m not,” I admit softly to Sirius. He looks surprised, and then his posture deflates.

“Not everyone wants to start courting immediately. You could wait a few years, and just send out generalized, I’m not receiving until I’m x years old type things. I just thought-”

“No, not like that. I just… I found out today that someone I’ve liked for a really long time is still refusing contracts. So I wasn’t thrilled about making a list since I kind of only really wanted one person on it.” I admit. They exchange a look before steering me to a seat by the fire that wasn’t lit.

“Care to share?” Remus says after a silent moment. I feel my face light up. 

“Er, well… I’ve kind of really, extremely, annoyingly, have had a bad crush on George. A bad, bad crush, since I turned 13. I just kind of woke up one day and went down to breakfast and my brain just kind of, I dunno. It felt like a confundus had washed over me, and all I could focus on was his sharp cheekbones and how he had a mole under his eye and Fred didn’t and how his nose was slightly hooked to the left instead of the right like Fred and that he was, well, gorgeous. And I’ve kept it quiet because I thought he was in a contract with Kate Bell but I found out today that none of the Weasleys are in a contract and he actually does prefer men and- that’s great, but what if he doesn’t like me?” I feel out of breath and Remus is rubbing my back soothingly. They share a look before Sirius sits on the coffee table in front of me.

“Okay, so this is what we are going to do. We’re going to go over the contracts that I have. If they are a maybe, I’m going to write to them and tell them that you would like an open courtship to cancel at any time. If not, I’ll send the veto. After that we can focus on this very short list of yours.” he tries to make a joke and I’m grateful.

“Okay, fine, whose on this list?” I murmur. He moves away from me for a moment and when he’s back, the red paper of the courting contracts is in front of me. They were straight forward fill in the blanks. Generic, but worth it. State your name, what role you want in the relationship, and what you’re willing to give- usually the answer wanted here is time, and love, and affection, over money or other materials. The first one was Viktor, which was surprising. At least, until I read the ‘give’ portion.  _ A friend who knows what it’s like to be in the spotlight. A partner who can handle pressure well. _

Sounds like things he wants, and not me. I shake my head and Sirius snatches it away, replacing it with another one.

“Cedric?” I ask in surprise. Last I heard he was courting Chang. I skim the paper. Again, the ‘give’ portion gave it away.

_ Nothing serious. An opportunity to get to know you better and a chance at happiness. _ Chang had left him or something had happened. I shake my head no again and I get to one from a name I’m not familiar with.

“Who's this?” I ask in surprise.

“Sanguini is a vampire. I know that you don’t know him, but I figured you had a right to know that the king of the last vampire line thought that you were impressive enough to consider courting.”

‘Hmmm. add him to the maybe pile then.” I suggest, and he nods. The fourth one I had never heard of either, but Remus explained patiently that it was a woman who was the seventh year last year and they had just wanted to make sure that I hadn’t known her. Finally, on the last one, Sirius's lips twitch.

“This one I’m sure you’ll be excited about.”

“Huh?”

“Just read, Pup,” Remus says with an eye roll.

_ I, George Gideon Weasley, am asking permission to court the one, Harrison James Potter. I am hoping to become the stable, dominant, caring hand that is needed in his life. I am also hoping that he can be the strong, unwavering, gentle light I know he is in mine. I hope to give patience and care. I also hope to give my wand, and hopefully one day my heart, in protecting him in his years to come. _

_ Legally signed and accepted: _

_ George G. Weasley _

_ ________________ _

There was a blank where my name would go, and I”m floored. George was sending the letter out to me? 

“I’m really glad he took the initiative. Otherwise, I might have had to hit them.” Sirius jokes into my stunned silence. 

"He… I didn't think he was interested!" I exclaim in surprise. Remus chuckles then and I shoot him an annoyed look.

" no-no, it's just, I knew when I was teaching you that you would be getting an offer from him st some point. He couldn't keep his eyes off of you." He explains his laughter and I feel myself blush.

"I…"

"Do you know what he means here? The whole, hand to guide and light of life thing? It's not how it's traditionally written, it's a lot more romantic than normal, but..."

"That's the uh, traditional way of courting right? The whole, truly dominant and submissive." I stutter out. I did not want to get into a bird's and bees- was it bees and bees in this case?- with these two. 

"Well yes, but do you know what that means?"

"I do yeah. Believe me, I'm aware." I feel my face flaming and Remus makes a surprised sound.

"Well I didn't expect that, but there's nothing wrong with it." He murmurs, giving me a reassuring look.

"Expecting what?" Sirius demands with a Frown.

"Nothing, just, Harry is naturally submissive it seems. He was probably giving off indicators before getting a contract." Remus explains. Those were rare-usually the submissive role was in writing early, as I had thought earlier. I did know that that wasn't what I wanted but I also didn't know that they would pick up on it quickly.

"Oh, so you're going to be okay with it," Sirius says a little surprised. When I nod he grins.

"Well then let's sign it and you need to write the formal agreement. After the 48 hour wait, you can go back to the burrow." He says cheerfully. I want to groan. I had forgotten about that rule.


	2. Chapter Two

_“Oh fuck baby, I didn’t think you were being serious.” I groan at his impish smile. He had dragged me down a corridor, haphazardly thrown his cloak around me before he started tugging at my robes and declaring that either I was sucking him off, or he was going down on me, and he didn’t care which one. I had laughed, thinking he just wanted a snogging session. It sounded like something he would declare before going all blushing and stammering and insisting that he would do so later… until he had dropped to his knees and created an alarming popping sound as they connected with the granite underneath him. _

_His hands make quick work of the belt I had chosen to wear and had forced my underwear and my pants down to my knees as I braced myself against the wall. I had enough mind to make sure he was covered by the cloak and to throw up a silencing charm before my wand clattered to the ground next to him. He dismissed it with a glance, more focused on wrapping his hand around me and giving an experimental tug. _

_“Merlin shit,” I curse, scrambling for purchase on something, anything. His thumb rubs against the bottom of my shaft as he bites his lip, and that alone makes me harder than ever. _

_“You didn’t think I would? You know I’m not as innocent as you thought. What did you think I did? I at least know how to give proper head.” he gives me a cheeky grin before giving the smallest of licks to the head. My hips roll at the sensation and my hands twitch off the wall before pressing against it again. However, he seems to see it and his face brightens like it does when he thinks he has a brilliant idea. _

_“Here love.” he pulls my hands and places them on his head, similar to a much more age-appropriate scene we make in the common room where he reads and I play with his hair. I card them through, tightening my fingers in the strands the way I know he likes me to. _

_“One thing I’ve learned is I don’t have much of a gag reflex while doing this, so I want you to fuck my mouth okay?” he says like it’s a normal conversation. I choke at it though. Before I can protest against anything he might have said he was enthusiastically sucking, and all coherent thought leaves. _

_“Oh fuck, oh merlin, Baby-” I don’t know what I’m saying but he seems to enjoy it if the happy little noises he’s making around me is any indication. He tugs at my wrists a little, and I reluctantly move, not wanting to hurt him. Thankfully he seemed to be taking it with gusto, because what little restraint I had left fizzes out when he starts swallowing around me. _

_I’m loud. I know I am, and I always have been. But the things this minx was doing to me- _

“-orge. George!” Fred’s voice has me bolting upright. I glance around wildly, slumping when I realize I’m draped over a couch with one of moms blankets wrapped around me. “I’m up I’m up. what? “ I grumble, adjusting myself so I was sitting up and he couldn't see the impressive erection I had going. That little daydream had almost been as good as the one that had woken me up this morning.

“Dinner is ready. Moms tracking everyone down. Are you okay?” he asks in concern. No, I was a nervous wreck. I had sent harry a contract and he hadn’t responded yet. I wasn’t sure he was going to now.

“Yeah no, I’m fine. What are we having?”

“Moms making meat lasagna. Sirius flooed over about ten minutes ago and is getting a few plates for him, Remus, and Harry. Apparently, the adoption papers officially went through the afternoon today so Harry is staying over there a few days now that it’s legal for him to do so. Are you sure you’re okay?" He asks again as my face falls into a frown. I had wanted to see him again, even if it was going to be extremely awkward with him having rejected my contract…

“There you two are! Harry wants to invite everyone down two days to celebrate. You two don’t have any plans do you?” Sirius is bouncing around the kitchen when we enter, and we share a grin. He was always so energetic and it was hard to tell where all of it came from.

“We will all be there. He must be really excited to be inviting everyone over.” Mom says with a grin as she helps him plate up enough food to feed seven people, let alone three.

“He is! We all are. And he accepted a contract today! He’s nervous as hell but excited for that too.” My stomach drops, and I suddenly find it hard to breathe. He’d accepted a contract already? With who? Had I met them or was it someone I didn’t know? Was it someone he had been waiting on or was it a spur of the moment thing?

“That’s amazing! He’s not just settling is he?” Mom says sternly.

“Of course not. Do you see Harry doing anything he doesn’t want to do? No, he told me that he only really had one person on his list. When he told Remus and me who he had been watching since he was thirteen, we were relieved that they had already sent him a contract.” he explains. I hear it, but it’s like it’s far away. He’d been watching someone since he was 13? How could I have missed that? Now I felt like a fool.

“That’s wonderful! Oh, I hope they treat him right!” Mom frets, suddenly looking worried.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that. They were raised by an amazing mother, they wouldn’t dare do something to upset him. Besides, from what I’m understanding, they’ve liked him for a while.” Sirius says with no small amount of amusement in his voice. So he knew them then. Knew them well, it seems. Was it Neville? Maybe Cedric, or Krum….

“Anyway, I best be off. Which one of you is George?” Sirius rounds on Fred and I and we both startle. After a moment of hesitation and a brief glance at eachother, I step closer.

“Here you are then. I’m only saying it once, okay? The first time you make him cry is the last time you get the chance to cry. Bye!” he thrusts an envelope in my hands and then bolts for the floo, disappearing. The kitchen is a stunned silence as I look at the gold envelope in my hands. Gold. as in acceptance. As in Harry had said yes. _Harry had said yes._

I rip the envelope open as my mother starts shrieking in excitement for everyone to get to the kitchen. I hadn’t told them that I was sending Harry a contract, just that I was going to send out a few this year on my own so that she had more time to worry about Rons. I hadn’t wanted to tell anyone because I didn’t want to get my hopes up that he would say yes, but… Harry had said yes.

I smooth out the gold paper and skim over the words quickly, still in a slight daze as I feel my brothers arm drape around me and read over my shoulder.

_I, Harrison James Potter, accept the courting of George Gideon Weasley. I promise to work to be the Strong, unwavering, gentle light he wants me to be, as long as he works to be the stable, dominant, caring hand that I know I need in my life. I promise to cherish the time he gives me more than the money we spend and to help him grow in all ways possible. Harrison J. Potter. _

I feel another, plain piece of paper behind the official one and I grin a little manically. There was supposed to be a 48 hour period of no talking after the signings, just to make sure no one was coerced. Apparently, Harry was already breaking the rules.

George,

To say I am thrilled with your contract is an understatement. I was dreading turning 16 because I never, once, thought that you could see me as someone to have a contract with, and I’ve liked you for years now. I know I’m breaking the rules a bit here but I just wanted to give you a heads up so that you didn’t go out and get something first. I don’t want you spending money on me as I hinted in the contract. I want you to spend time on me. I’ve already talked to Siri and he’s agreed that we can make dinner and dessert for our impromptu party. Be at Grimmauld at 2 pm ( or any time afternoon, really, that’s when I signed the contract today) and bring an apron. This way I can see how well you cook and it will fulfill the ‘care for’ checkmark on the first courting date.

Yours, Harry

“What’s all the yelling?” Dad’s voice breaks my giddy haze and I snap my gaze up. In the time I had read the letters, mum had apparently gotten everyone downstairs and even floo called Bill and Fleur over. She was crouched in front of the fire talking excitedly, so I wasn’t sure who was coming through next.

“Er,” I flush as all eyes turn to me and one by one they see the gold envelope, and paper, in my hand.

“Oh! You’ve gotten a courting. Well done! Who's the lucky bloke then?” Bill says, sweeping me up into a gut crushing hug.

“I Uhm…”

“You didn’t even tell me you liked him!” Fred wails in fake despair. Well, mostly fake. I knew we were going to be having a talk about this later.

“I didn’t want to jinx it. And I didn’t want anyone to know if he told me no.” I explain, still in Bills tight embrace. Dad is next, and when he motions for it I hand him the letter, pocketing the more private one. His face goes blank in shock for a moment, before a wide grin splits his face.

“Oh, George, this is fantastic!” he laughs and hugs me again before pulling back to read over the letter.

“You used the traditional courting then? That’s… not uncommon, but people will look at you oddly.” he warns me as he hands the letter back.

“I know.”

“And he’s okay with it?”

“Sirius and Remus were with him apparently, I’m sure they explained it to him. I will ask when I go over in a few days though. He’s already made plans with Sirius about what we are going to be doing first.” I admit, the grin on my face starting to hurt.

“Sirius? Remus? Wait- did you send Harry a contract?” Ron asks in surprise. When I nod, I’m surprised to find myself getting a hug.

“That’s great! Harry was probably over the moon. Let me know if you need help with anything for him, yeah? Though, well, he probably asked you not to spend money on him didn’t he. He likes homemade things and spending time with people more than he does bought gifts.” he muses as he pulls away from the hug.

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew. Do you know how many times I caught him staring at you? I never said anything because I was never sure that you wanted anything, but well, obviously you do or you wouldn’t have sent a contract.” he explains. I feel the grin on my face widen again and everyone around me laughs.

“Now I know it will be tempting, but you two really shouldn’t speak for the next two days.” dad says as we are all seated around the table. Even Percy and Charlie had popped in to celebrate with us, which I was thankful for.

“It’s a little late for that. Harry already sent me a letter.” I admit with an almost proud grin. Dad gives a mock groan as mum giggles.

“You two are going to be trouble, I can already tell. You don’t plan on responding do you?”

“He didn’t really write anything that needs a response. Just what he wanted to do as our first date. He wants us to cook for the party in a few days.”

“He trusts you around the food?” Charlie quips with a teasing grin. I knew it was meant in jest so I didn’t take offense.

“I’ll be on my best behavior, believe me. Especially if Sirius is going to be hovering. Or Professor Lupin.” I admit with a smirk back at him.

“Well, it looks like I’m going to be taking the evening off soon. I’m not going to miss the chance to celebrate this with you” Charlie says with a firm nod, like that solved the matter entirely. I beam at him and mum launches into what she thinks we are going to be cooking, leaving me to mull over the situation. It was going to be a long 48 hours.


	3. Chapter Three

_“Do you do this on purpose?” Is asked behind me moments before arms snake around my waist. I glance around in alarm, but we were the only ones in the kitchen, which I’m grateful for._

  
_“Do what on purpose?”_

  
_“You look practically edible baby.” Georges voice in my ear is a low rumble and I sigh as I let my body rest on his._

  
_“ I didn’t wear anything different.” _

  
_“You’re wearing quite a bit of cake batter.” he licks my cheek to prove his point, where I’ve smeared it when I went to move my hair. _

  
_“Raw egg isn’t good for you.” I quip, trying to move discreetly away so that I could continue cooking. He makes a humming noise and his hands slid from around me to settle on my waist._

  
_“Can I help?”_

  
_“Sure, grab the-”_

  
_“Mhm, funny, not what I meant though.” he muses as his hands drift below my waistline._

  
_“Sirius is home!”_

  
_“There’s a warning on the door for us and a silencing spell.”_

  
_“We can’t- I’m trying to cook!”_

_“Hush baby. Just let me take care of you and then I’ll let you finish here.” he murmurs into the crook of my neck as one hand slides past the waistband of my underwear._

“Harry! Wake up!” Sirius screaming down the hallway at me has me bolting upright.

“Fuck Merlin. WHAT?” I scream back, throwing the covers off and standing to charge into the hallway.

“It’s 11:30! Get up and get dressed if you want George over today.”

“Don’t do that! I thought someone was attacking the place.” I groan, placing a hand over my rapidly beating heart.

“Sorry!” Is yelled from his bedroom. I grumble to myself but head back into my bedroom. I was in the heir suite now, so it had its own bathroom. I grab a pair of distressed jeans that Remus had insisted I get when he had taken me shopping last year. I also get a clean pair of underwear before I head into the shower to clean up. I had stayed up late last night doing homework after Remus had found out that I hadn’t started it yet.

I muse over the new dream I had had. It was much more domestic than I normally had, not that I was complaining. Maybe one day we could have a moment like that…

Hush baby, let me take care of you.

I don’t know exactly where the ‘baby’ had come from the first time. But after that, I had loved it and it had made an appearance in nearly every daydream. Of course, I also liked kitten but that was more because I had mastered my animagus form and it was a cat. I hadn’t told anyone about that yet, not even Sirius. I think that Remus suspects it, just because he looked at me funny the other day when I cam down the stairs after practicing transforming smoothly.  
I towel myself off, pulling the jeans on and taking the towel to my hair as I exit the bathroom.

“Harry!”

“Hold on!” I yell back, annoyed.

“Hurry up!

“I'm getting dressed, fucking hold on!” I growl to myself as I pull out a plain white teeshirt and pull it on over my head. I pull a brush through my hair, tossing it on my bed as I exit my room and shut the door. When I spin to head downstairs I make a noise no man should make as I nearly collide with a chest.

“Well hello to you too,” George says with some amusement in his voice. I st the door and race my elbows on my knees.

“Fucking Merlin, what is it today with people giving me heart attacks!” I exclaim.

“Awe, I’m sorry. Sirius sent me up,” he says, tone sincere. I’m surprised to feel his fingers slide into my hair and his nails scratch just slightly in a soothing gesture. It reminded me vividly about the dream I had had when taking a nap the day that I had accepted his contract, how tight his hold had felt in my hair.

“Before we start this first date, I wanted to talk to you. Which is why Sirius sent me up. Is there somewhere we can go that you would be comfortable talking?” he asks as I straighten up and his hand falls from my hair. I nod, moving to go across the hall where Sirius had set up a study/library room for me. It had a fireplace and a couch with two loveseats in it. I settle on the couch and he hesitates before sitting in the middle, near me but not quite touching.

“I know that Sirius and Remus were with you when you were reading the contract, but my father pointed out you weren’t raised in this world and may not have understood what I was saying. I-”

“George,” I interrupt his rambling tone and he looks startled.

“Hey, I knew immediately what you meant, okay? I’ve known for years now that I would prefer having a truly submissive contract. Remus called me a natural, submissive? I think? Anyway, in the wizarding world, that means a little more than in the muggle world.”

“So you’re okay with a truly Dominant submissive courtship?”

“I am.”

“So you know that we need to sit down and talk about it,” he says slowly, obviously trying to word this so that I wouldn’t run in the opposite direction.

“Well yes. I figured we could do the dating stuff out of the way now, and then here in a month or so sit down and actually make the supplemental contract. It’s just got to be done within the first three months, right?” I ask, shifting so that I was facing him on the couch and my head was resting on my hand, which was propped on the back of the couch. He seems a little surprised by that.

“You know, I feel like I’m the one freaking out more than you.”

“Why would you be freaking out?” I ask, just left of pouting. Did he not really want this? Then why send the contract?

“Not freaking out! I just… I feel like since I’ve stepped in today I’ve been off balance, is all. I’ve….” he trails off, glancing around my face. He must see whatever he wants to because he leans closer, his hand falling to land on my knee which was settled between the two of us now that I had turned to face him.

“I’ve known since I was 14 that I was going to be sending you a contract. That I wanted to be your dominant, that I wanted you. But then you started hanging out with my sister, and Luna, and Cho Chang for a while, and I thought you were into women or that you was a dominant yourself. I didn’t think I had a chance in hell to get a contract with you, but I sent one because I’d been dreaming of doing it since I knew what contracts would be. I just… didn’t have any hope that you would actually say yes.”

“I’ve liked you since I was 13. So the same year. When we had that course on contracts when I was 14 I realized immediately that I wanted a true contract with you. It’s why I was so… well, adamant that I didn’t want to make a list the other day. I knew you were the only one I wanted to send a contract to. Sirius freaked me out, he didn’t tell me that you had sent me one, just that I was going to be happy with the last one he was handing me. I think he’s just excited that my first choice had already sent me something. I don’t think it’s quite clicked with him exactly how… willing I am to be in a true contract, but, well, he can be naive. It doesn't matter if anyone else is okay with it, as long as we are.”

He sits in a stunned kind of silence for a moment before a grin breaks over his face.

“You’ve liked me that long?”

My face flames and he chuckles, squeezing my knee again.

“Right, well then. Back to what we should be talking about. I don’t… mind, you calling me nicknames or anything. I know some Dominants only want to hear ‘sir’ or variations of but as long as you’re not being disrespectful then I don’t mind. Is there any names that are hard no for you?”

“Er, no, none that are a no.” I murmur, feeling my face flame again.

“Oh? Is there some that you prefer already?” he says in a teasing tone, obviously trying to get me to relax with him.

“I…. yeah, there's a few. Two. I’ve liked the idea of being called baby for a while now. Not in an age regression way, but in an endearment kind of way. That and well… I mastered my animagus transformation. No one knows yet. But it’s a cat, and since then, I’ve liked the idea of being called kitten, too.”

“Okay, I can do that. You’ll have to show me your transformation soon.” He says with an easy smile that makes me relax. I didn’t realize how nervous I was going to be talking about the little things like this.

“And you said you wanted me to spend time on you more than money. Do you mind if I make you things though?”

“Not at all!” I say excitedly, just thinking of him making me something homemade and getting excited about it.

“Good, because I already did,” he admits, shifting to dig into his pocket. I sit up straighter, excited, and he laughs at me.

“Turn around.”

“Huh?”

“Turn around so I can put it on you.” he clarifies. I shift so my back is to him and he slides a leather cord around my neck. It’s shorter than most necklaces I’ve worn, but it’s not as tight as the chokers I see some people wearing.

“There.” he murmurs after he ties the ends. I reach up and run my fingers over a smooth pendant that has an engraving in it.

“What is it?”

“I’m not much of a craftsman, but I wanted to give you something. Usually, the first gift is supposed to represent the person or the family, so it’s just a ‘G’ for now. We can always add charms and little things to it for memorials for dates or places we go to. Here,” he raises his wand and a mirror pops into existence that he catches. He spins it for me and hands it over. I lift my chin slightly to see the charm. The leather cord was almost black against my white skin, and it was just tight enough that the charm that was the size of a 50 cent coin set in the hollow of my throat. The ‘G’ carved into it was deep and slightly crooked, obviously done by hand, and I loved it.

“Thank you!” I drop the mirror and impulsively fling myself at him in a hug that he catches me for. He laughs in delight.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.” He says, and I can hear the grin in his voice. Eventually, we settle back down and discuss the courting some more.


	4. Chapter Four

“You monster!” Sirius exclaims. Harry cackles from his spot perched on the counter, a bowl perched in his lap that he was stirring.

“Me? Me!? I didn’t do anything!” I yell back, trying to reach around Sirius. He had his arm protectively wrapped around the bowl of cookie dough Harry had specifically made for everyone else to eat while he made the actual cookies.

“You double-dipped! That’s nasty!” I make a face at that because I couldn’t deny it.

“Cake is done!” Harry chirps, pointing to the oven. I scowl at Sirius one last time before I go to remove the cake. We were making a roast. A large roast that was currently cooking in the other oven. Harry had, very efficiently, made bread, salad, corn, potatoes, coleslaw, and potato salad. He also had green beans and bacon cooking together on the stovetop of that oven and had a cake baking in the one I was supposed to be manning. I was also supposed to be making some kind of macaroni and cheese casserole but really, Harry was cooking that too. It was quickly evident that this date was more just us having fun than me helping, and I loved it. I felt bad for not having the skill that he does in the kitchen though. I was going to have to learn from mom a recipe he loves before we go back to school.

“This smells delicious.”

“I know.” Harry’s voice at my elbow has me giving him a sharp look because I hadn’t heard him coming up behind me.

“You go check on that casserole, you should be able to put it in the oven if no one has touched it,” he says, adjusting the temperature on the knob. I make a humming noise and move past him, brushing my hand on his lower back. I’d been doing it all day, getting him used to me touching him. The blinding smile he gave me every time my fingers brushed his hair, or his waist, or the one time I had dared to wrap him up in a hug from behind, was worth it. I move the casserole into the oven and turn to see that the bowl he was stirring was a white icing.

“How sweet is it?” I ask, peering over his shoulder as he begins to ice the cake.

“Buttercream.” he murmurs, focusing. I settle my hands on his waist hesitantly and when he doesn’t tense up I lean closer to watch him work. It was a little fascinating, how good he was at cooking. When the task is done he holds the spatula level with my face and I taste it dutifully.

“Very sweet. You’re very good at all of this.” I muse as he takes his turn eating some of it.

“I’ve had a lot of practice. Next time I’m sitting on the island and directing you and we’ll see how well that turns out.” he teases, shifting out of my hold to set the used bowl and spoon in the sink.

“What’s your favorite food to make?” I ask as I lean against the counter and watch him start rinsing the two objects.

“Hmmm. to make would be cookies or spaghetti.”

“Alright, what's your favorite food to eat?”

“Shepherds pie, treacle tart, Italian marinated chicken….” he hums as he thinks and then shoots me an amused look.

“Maybe the easiest to make would be the chicken.”

“Who said anything about making it? I’m not exactly good in a kitchen, as you’ve seen today.” I tease him, surprised he had caught me so easily.

“Uh-huh. So, do you think we made enough?” he changes the subject and I go along with it gratefully. About twenty minutes later the food is ready and under warming charms. Sirius and Harry are counting-and arguing- over how many chairs are around the table. Remus and I are hovering near the doorway, amused.

“Why does Harry think we need more chairs?”

“Sirius went a little overboard. He invited most of the teachers, your family, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Seamus and Dean, Angelina, Alicia, Kate, Oliver, Kings, Tonks, Moody, Hestia… there are a few others I don’t remember who though. Some of them have declined, but for the most part, it's going to be a full house.”

“Why?” I exclaim in surprise.

“Sirius is excited. Harry is officially his son and heir, and he’s wanting to shout it from the rooftops. Harry is indulging him because he’s excited, too.”

“...so we really might need more chairs.” I muse. He laughs, but before he can reply the floo in the kitchen goes off. I walk down to greet whoever it was that came in and grunt at the hug my mother gives me.

“So? How did everything go?” she asks, beaming as the rest of my family follows through the floo with her one by one. Even Charlie steps through, making me give him a pleased grin.

“It went well. Harry is much better at cooking than I am.”

“That isn’t hard,” Fred says as he steps up next to me, grinning. I swing at him playfully but he dodges.

“Harry and Sirius and Remus are in the dining room,” I tell mum when she looks around expectantly. I was not repentant whatsoever about the look of glee that passed over her face at the mention of Harry and where she could hunt him down at.

“So really, you had fun?” Fred asks as we move to leave the room, away from everyone.

“A lot of fun. I’ll tell you all about it later, but really, he’s great.” I assure him. He grins in relief and we enter the dining room where there is excited chatter all around. Harry was wrapped up in a hug from Charlie and I realize he hasn’t seen him this summer, having always been away when he flooed through.

“George! Did you know that Charlie was coming?” He asks when he spots me, bouncing over. It always made a goofy grin on my face appear when he was able to so easily tell the two of us apart, even standing next to each other.

“I might have.”

“Why didn’t you tell me!” he exclaims in mock outrage.

“I didn’t realize you would be so thrilled, I apologize.”

“Well yes, but I would have wrapped his birthday gift and given it to him today! I thought I was going to have to owl it so I was putting it off to this weekend.” he huffs.

“You got me a gift?” Charlie asks, clearly surprised.

“Of course I got you a gift, it’s your birthday!”

“Does… does everyone get a gift for their birthday?” Charlie asks, clearly amused at the wide range of nods he’s getting back. Harry beams.

“Once I’ve met someone in person and I like them, I like to send gifts. Dobby, can you wrap Charlie's gift and make sure he gets it before he leaves?” Harry calls on the little elf, not for the first time that day. He appears with a flourish and grins up at his little master, absolutely smitten.

“Of course Master Harry sir! Does Master Harry sir need anything else?” he asks eagerly, obviously willing and ready to help. Harry hmmms.

“There’s about to be a lot of people, Dobby, could you wait by the floo to direct them here?” He decides. The elf nods eagerly before popping away.

“Alright alright, Molly your brownies can go on this table here, it’s where we have all the desserts. I’ve kind of buffet lined everything so that we can all have food on one table and eat at another.” He explains as he turns back to the group. I realize it’s almost doubled in size while I was watching him. Moody, Kingsley, Tonks, her mother Andromeda, Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Sprout, and Professor Flitwick were all chatting, though it had quieted when Harry called out. There was a surge of people as a line was formed and a bemused looking Harry ended up next to Fred and me again as we squeezed into the line behind the Weasleys but before everyone else.

“What!?” I demand when he gives me a look I don’t understand. “

Couldn’t wait huh?” “I’ve been looking at this food all afternoon.” I defend myself, making him snicker. As we are filling our plates, more people arrive and join the line of people that were waiting for food. When we settle I’m on Harrys left, and Sirius at the head of the table is on his right. Remus is across from him, and Charlie and bill are across from me. Everyone is talking animatedly to the low rumble of noise is louder than I’m used to, but it’s pleasant.

“Thank you.” Harry's voice is just above a whisper, close enough to my ear that his breath displaces the hair there. When I turn to look at him in surprise he’s grinning.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Why? What did I do?” “I had a lot of fun with you today, and everyone’s so happy, and you’re giving this a chance and me just… I wanted to say thank you.” he murmurs, face going a little pink. I grin down at him and risk-taking his hand, which he thankfully squeezes back immediately.

“I should be thanking you I think.” I muse, making him laugh again, eyes bright.

“So, Harry, Have you accepted a contract yet?” Andromeda asks from farther down the table, pointedly looking at our hands which I hadn’t bothered to hide under the table and was resting in the space between our plates.

“No, I’ve taken up the habit of holding hands with strange men,” he says a little teasingly as the table goes quieter.

“Oi!” I say a little indignantly, playing along.

“Handsome strange men then.” he amends, making some snicker.

“Yes, Harry has accepted a contract from George. Them making the food you are eating now was their first day since the no contact period after signing.” Sirius cuts in before we could start bickering. Harry beams over at him and I nod in agreement.

“That’s not what we’re here for though. That’ll be announced tomorrow, just like every Friday edition. Though I think Harry’s will make the front page and not the little contract column they have going on. Today was about Harry and Sirius.” I point out when the table starts gushing excitedly. Sirius grins at me, a little pride in his gaze every time it flicked to Harry.

“Right, right! To Sirius, may his parenting skills be better than his pet-owning skills!” Kingsley says with a laugh and an indignant yelp from Sirius. Everyone toasts to it though, making him pout.

“And to Harry. Hopefully, he can make Sirius act more his age.” Tonks chimes in.

~~~~

“Home by 10.” mum warns me as she goes to step through the floo. I hear Sirius snickering to Harry as they sit in the background, but I nod to show that I’ve heard her.

“And find out when he’s coming back to the burrow. If he’s coming back, I should say. And when he wants to meet up for school shopping!” She murmurs quickly as she hugs me.

“I will mum,” I say, rolling my eyes. She huffs but grins, leaving. I glance at the mantle. It was 8 now, giving me two hours with Harry that wasn’t focused on food or the awkward before courting questions.

“Right well, you heard your mother, you need to be home by ten. And you sir, need to be in bed by 10:45 and not 3 am like you was yesterday.”

“I was doing homework!” he exclaims as Sirius stands from the sofa they were lounging on.

“That’s not healthy. I’m going to trust you two to behave and go to bed, but if you need anything, send Dobby for me,” he says, waving as a goodbye. Once he’s left the room, Harry stands and gestures for me to follow him. We exit the parlor room we were sitting in, and trail up the stairs to the sitting room like area that we had been in when I had first stopped in.

“Dobby, can you bring us some hot chocolate?” Harry calls softly as he begins starting the fireplace. There’s a pop as the two cups settle on the hardwood floor, next to the plush, dense, blue rug that Harry was arranging himself on.

“Grab the blanket off the couch and come here.” he demands, grinning up at me. I take the blanket off the couch and wrap it around my shoulders. In a somewhat bold move, since we hadn’t done much yet, I settle behind him and tuck him against my chest, my legs on either side of him. I wrap the blanket around us both as he holds both the cups of chocolate and then holds my breath. He just hums happily though, arranging himself to where he’s comfortable leaning against me. He slips a cup into one of my hands, forcing me to hold the blanket closed with the other. He snuggles in and sighs softly.

“Now this I could get used to.”

“Mhm. I didn’t realize you were so cuddly.” I tease him as I take a sip of the drink. He laughs at that.

“I’m not usually. But I was chilly and this is nice.” We sit in silence for a while, finishing our drinks and setting them aside. Finally, I ask what I had been wondering since people started showing up.

“So I noticed that Hermione didn’t show up.” His whole body tenses for a moment before he falls against me again, huffing.

“She’s mad that I’m participating in contracts. And that Ron is, too. I haven’t written to her at all this summer.”

“What? Why would she be mad at that? It’s your choice.”

“It’s an ‘archaic pureblood ritual’ and it’s made to ‘make muggle-borns singled out even more’. When I pointed out that muggle-borns are encouraged to participate as well she got angry and stomped off.”

“Does she think that she can’t participate just because she’s a muggle-born?”

“No, she’s mostly just mad that she got fined for sending out a contract before she turned 16.”

“She what?” I exclaim in surprise. He shrugs like it’s old news, but I hadn’t heard about it.

“Last year, she was really into Krum and he stopped writing her. She realized it must be because he was looking into contracts because he said that he was going to start looking at them when he turned 18. So she sent one out. Since she was barely 15, and Krum knew that he reported her. Apparently, he stopped talking to her because she kept saying the wrong things about the way he was raised and how she saw his heritage. Mainly pureblood thoughts and ideals. She was fined, heavily, and her parents weren’t happy with her either. She’s spending most of her summer in a muggle camp for wilderness stuff, she can’t use magic or read on the wizarding world or anything until August 19th. She’s not thrilled. Her last letter to me told me not to write or attempt to get her help in anything because she was mad at me and surely when I realize I’m going to fail all my classes without her I’d be begging her forgiveness.”

“She said that?” I ask in surprise, tightening my arms around him.

“More or less, yeah. I’m just… done. She’s always like this, but usually not so loud about it. The fact that she thinks she can blackmail her way into my friendship? I don’t need that. Just because I let her help me doesn’t mean that I need her help in school.”

“Still, she’s your friend.”

“Not for a long time. I knew that we were going to have a falling out for a while now. Really. I’m not surprised by it.” he reassures me, his hand patting at my arm absently. I reach up to tangle our fingers together and press a kiss to the back of his hand.

“So our first courting date went off without a hitch. What do you want to do for the second one?” I ask to change the subject. He shifts a little so that his fingers can stay in my grip and he can still see me.

“It’s supposed to be a neutral setting and all about…What’s the second date?” his face scrunches as he thinks and I chuckle at him.

“There’s no theme for the second date, Baby. as long as it’s on neutral ground.” I remind him. I slip in the nickname that he said he would prefer, the first time I’ve done so. Well, since we’ve started courting. I was shocked to hear that the two names I most often used in my little… daydreams were the ones he preferred. And I didn’t even know about his animagus before today. I was tempted to ask my parents about it, but that was embarrassing. Oh yeah mom, dad, is there a reason that I was preemptively calling Harry all the nicknames he prefers in my wet dreams before we signed a contract and talked about it? No thank you. His face lights up and he beams at me, making me wish I had used it earlier today, too. Instead, I duck my head and press my lips to his hair. “

You light up a room looking like that.” I tease him. His face goes violently red and I laugh as he whines at me.


	5. Chapter Five

“Look at you.” Remus is laughing at me as I bounce around the family room. I glare in his direction, continuing to collect the homework I had strewn around. I had stayed home yesterday, but Molly was wanting to go shopping today.

And I miss George.

“Are you going with us?” I ask as I close my transfiguration book and cap the ink I had open. It was 10 am, and I’d woken up from a nightmare almost five hours ago now so I had knocked out all but my charms homework.

“I am. So is Sirius. Have you and George decided what you’re doing for your second courting date?” He asks as I pat my pockets for the coin pouch Sirius had handed me and to make sure I had my wand on me.

“Oh, uh, kind of. We decided that we want to go to the beach. But we haven’t decided when we want to go.” I explain, my fingers going to the charm around my neck like it often did when talking about George since I got it.

“Are you flooing there or straight to the leaky?” Sirius’ voice was with us before he was, and when he comes around the corner he’s dressed in muggle attire.

"You're going to Diagon like that? and straight to Leaky."

"Good. we will come with you then. And yes, I am, the world needs more education. he defends himself, making me roll my eyes at him.

"What time do we need to meet them?"

"Molly said 10:30, but I want to go a little early and get a drink," I explain as I pull some shoes on.

"We'll be through at 10:30 then. Don't leave the pub though." Sirius warns. I nod to show I agree before I'm through the floo and walking towards Tom at the bar. His face lights up.

"Harry, how are you?"

"Good Tom. Can I get a butterbeer?"

"Absolutely." he gives me the drink and moves off to someone else as I settle at the bar. after a few minutes, Tom is passing again and pauses to give me a pointed look.

"Where's your partner?"

"Oh, uh, that's out already?"

"Yesterday morning, front-page news. everyone was thrown that you chose a twin but not that it was someone from the Weasley family."

"They'll be through in a few minutes."

"Good. you need people around you. the public can be vicious. Congratulations, Mr. Potter." he says formally before wandering away again. I sip on my butterbeer as I think over that. I was half tempted to find a paper from yesterday just to see what it says.

"Harry, I didn't realize you'd be in here this early."

I jump at the voice as an arm goes around my chest, but I relax when I realize who it was.

"I wanted a butterbeer."

"I figured you did, that's why I came early." George grins down at me before bending and kissing my forehead softly.

"How are you, baby? I've missed you." he murmurs as he pulls back to look at me again. I beam up at him.

"I've been okay. working on my homework mostly. I've missed you, too." I admit to him easily. his eyes roam me a moment before his thumb is touching the corner of my eye, under my glasses.

"You look tired."

"I am." I agree. he makes a humming noise and shifts so his arm falls around my waist and he reaches for the second butterbeer that had appeared while I was focused on him.

"That's Sirius," I sigh without turning around when I hear a commotion behind me. he chuckles and squeezes me a little tighter.

"George! When did you get here?"

"Less than a minute ago, unfortunately. I was going to get Harry a butterbeer since he always has one when we stop through, but it seems he beat me to it." he teases as Remus moves up to the bar next to me and Sirius moves next to George.

"You know him well then. That's good. Tom! two more over here please?" Sirius calls out, calling even more attention to himself. he loved having attention on him, especially since it was proven that he wasn't a mass murderer.

That's how the rest of the Weasley's found us- George and I avoiding the looks people were giving us and Sirius keeping the attention mostly on him with a loud conversation with Tom. Molly was positively beaming when she realized that George's arm hadn't moved from around my waist.

"Charlie and Bill couldn't make it, unfortunately. Sirius, Remus, are you still sure you want to take all the boys today?"

"Of course we do. You go and have a day with Ginny and we will spoil the boys." Sirius says firmly as he downs the rest of his drink. Molly doesn't look thrilled by this idea, but she leaves us easily enough. When we finally make it to the streets Sirius is bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Where to first?"

"Scrolls and quills? You boys are going to be needing a lot of those." Remus suggests, glancing at Fred and George, who had their heads dipped together and were murmuring.

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good," they say together, straightening up. George moves to my side again and I don't comment when he slides his hand into mine as we begin walking. Fred and George continue having their half out loud, half in their head conversation that didn't make sense to anyone but themselves and people who know them very well as we move, and I can tell it's irritating Sirius to the point of distraction which I find amusing.

"What are you two mumbling about?" he finally snaps as he holds the door open for us.

"They want to research something but don't want to ask for help."

George stopping and tugging on my hand to make me stop was the indicator I had to the stunned looks around me.

"What? I've spoken Twinspeak since second year. Their faces say almost everything anyway."

"We didn't realize you were paying that much attention. wait a minute! that means you have known a lot of our plots and plans way before anyone else!" Fred accuses me.

"Yeah, well, have any of them ever gotten you caught? even when you thought you would be?" I suggest. At the again stunned looks, I smirk before dragging George off to start getting quills. when he can function again he's chuckling.

"I think you broke my brother."

"He's just in shock he's fine."

"Shock isn't a good thing, baby." his voice drops again as he says it and I give him a confused look. he looks up and around, and slides closer to me before grinning a little wearily.

"I wasn't sure if you were, uh, comfortable with PDA. It's just one of the things we forgot to discuss. It's why I haven't been clinging like I was at Sirius' place and I wasn't sure if you wanted others to know about the nicknames or if they were just for us, or... well, There was a lot of questions and I don't want to step on any toes. So I was keeping it... to ourselves."

"I don't mind. PDA is fine, and the world can know about, at least the two agreed upon, nicknames. If you feel uncomfortable saying them in public you can always find different ones." I suggest. I honestly didn't mind either way. He's silent long enough that I glance up at him. He's got an almost dazed, far off look on his face.

"George?"

"Sorry Kitten, I was just... very vivid moment, sorry. I'll keep that in mind." He assures me.

"Vivid moment?" I ask with a slight laugh. His smile turns into a smirk that shoots through me.

"Oh yes. A very... vivid image of exactly how far you'd let the PDA go." he murmurs as he inches closer.

"There's a line for PDA and indecent exposure." I breathe out, embarrassed at how airy my voice came out.

"Not with that cloak of yours. I could imagine all sorts of naughty things to get up to." he's smirking again as his arm goes around my ribs and pulls me close to his side. I groan at that and swat at him.

"That's not something to say in public!"

"Why? You seem very interested." he teases, making me blush deeply.

"You two aren't smooching are you?" Sirius rounds the aisle with his hand over his eyes, making me laugh.

"No, Siri," I say dutifully. he drops his hand and grins when he sees I wasn't lying.

"Well, at least we know he can't keep his hands off of you," he says with a wink. George gives a deep belly laugh as I groan and shove at his arm halfheartedly.

"Sirus, leave them alone." Remus chides as he and Fred come into the same aisle. he was holding an alarming pile of paper. when we get to the counter Fred and George move to pay for their things and I move to stand beside Remus.

"Doing okay Harry? you two seemed to be having a... pardon the pun, Serious conversation."

I give him a sharp look and he shrugs.

"Werewolf hearing."

"Merlin. I just need to put silencing runes on my door now, huh?"

"Oh? Planning on taking advantage of me?" George pops up at my elbow out of nowhere and I hold back a girly scream by the skin of my teeth.

"Don't do that!" I exclaim, making him laugh at me.

"Asshole." I glare at him playfully and move with Remus to pay for my things, away from him as he makes a grabbing motion for the sleeve of my shirt.

"Aw, common. I didn't mean to sneak up on you!" he whines behind me.

  
I can't sleep.

Turning over again, I face the window of my room and watch the stars for a long moment as my mind keeps me awake. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular, but I knew I was tired and knew that if I could just relax I would be able to fall asleep. I'd been having trouble falling asleep for years now, but for once there was something that I wanted to dream about that was keeping most of the nightmares at bay. George was someone I wouldn't mind dreaming about on a nightly base.

He'd been practically dotting the entire day. He didn't spend money on me as I had asked him. But he was always by my side, talking to me and making sure I was comfortable if I needed a jacket when it had started raining if I wanted to stop and get a drink when we had been out for a while to make sure I wasn't thirsty. And once I gave him the okay, he'd been happy to hold me closer. To slide a hand around to the small of my back or even on a few occasions while we were waiting on others, to pull me close to him so that we were chest to chest as we talked and settle his hands low on my waist to hold me in place. more than once we'd tripped over each other's feet as we separated once the rest of our group had finished shopping. His fingers had traced mine as we held hands, he'd played with my hair while we sat at lunch. Sirius had made fun of me because I was loving the attention, but I didn't care. The only complaint that I had about him was that despite me giving several hints and even more opportunities, he hadn't kissed me yet.

"Fuck," I growl out as I roll back onto my back. Just thinking about kissing George had me horny, which, in hindsight, was probably why he hadn't already kissed me in public. He was extremely observant sometimes. If I could just relax...

I last about five more minutes before I pull at the waistband of my pants and then I still long enough to pull my wand out and put the spells up I need to muffle the room. after that though, I'm entirely unsure for the first time. usually, I just fantasized about George and me, but now, with us being in a relationship, I somehow can't find the courage to think about it. I curse to myself and press the heels of my hands into my eyes in frustration. why did it matter? he wasn't going to know!

By the time I had talked myself around to thinking up a fantasy, I just fall into one that I've had a thousand times- Him sneaking into whatever room I was based in currently and having his wicked way with me.

_"You called Baby?" his voice is a purr as the door closes and I see him stalking towards me in the light from my windows._

_"I'm horny and it's your fault." I try to pout, but his laugh tells me he finds it funny rather than cute._

_"How is it my fault?" he teases, easing himself to sitting on the side of the bed. his eyes blatantly travel down my exposed chest, and eyes the sleeping pants pooling around my knees with a knowing smirk._

_"You drive me crazy, of course, it's your fault," I mutter, trailing a hand towards him. to my surprise, he backs up and makes a tsking sound._

_"This looks like it's purely your fault, getting all worked up like this. I think you should take care of it yourself, though I wouldn't mind watching."_

That was odd. usually, he was all for jumping me, but this was a new twist. I'd never fantasized about him watching before. I suddenly felt shy, which is something I've never felt before. It was a fantasy, I should be bold and flirty like I was when I imagined I was blowing him in the hallway the other day.

_"What's the matter baby?" his voice is low, weary, and I focus back on him with a smile._

_"Nothing love. So you're not going to touch me at all?" I try and go for playful, but the concern in his eyes doesn't go away._

_"I don't think That's a good idea kitten. I'd much prefer watching if you're okay with that," he explains. I feel myself pouting again and that makes him laugh._

_"Come on, please? I'd love to see you coming apart, moaning my name as you stroked yourself." his voice drops an octave as he talks and I groan just imagining what he's saying. with a few more coaxing words he's gotten me hard enough that I start slowly trailing my hand up and down my cock._

_"That's it, baby. You know you're always so impatient for me. I can only remember one time you let me stretch you, you always use the spells for it. Do you always use the spell? Do you have any toys you use, imagining it's me fucking you?" his voice is a hoarse whisper now, but that doesn't take away the effect his words have on me. When I shake my head no he makes a humming sound, shifting on the bed so I can see him better. I notice immediately that he's rock hard, but I don't see any indication from him that he's going to take care of himself as he watches me._

_"Would you do it for me?"_

_"Do what?" I grind out, pausing my hand to focus on him again._

_"I want you to stretch yourself. ride your fingers, make yourself cum." His eyes are trailing over me again and I want to scowl at him, but at this point, I'm too worked up._

_"I..."_

_"I'll talk you through it, baby, please. I want to see you come apart." his tone is pleading, and I can't find it in me to tell him no when he asks so nicely._

_It takes some rearranging on my part and a few uncomfortable starts and stops since I'd never actually done anything like this before. but eventually, I'm alternating between fucking up into my hand and pushing myself down onto the two fingers I had managed to relax enough for. I can feel my orgasm building, and I faintly hear myself whimpering as he continues to murmur to me._

_"Push down on your fingers and curl them a little further baby."_

_"Why?" I pant out, stroking faster as I groan loudly._

_"You'll know when you do it, trust me." he sounds much too smug for my liking but I push down further and do as he asks, experimentally rocking._

_I shout in shock as my orgasm rips through me, pressing my finger into the spot that I had found. the feeling rocking through me was intense, but a familiar feeling he often brought me. I just hadn't known that there was a specific place he was aiming for while fucking me that did that._

_When I finally calm down, George's fingers are running through my sweaty hair, soothing me. After a moment of cleaning myself up, I feel myself finally drifting to sleep when George says something._

_"huh?"_

_"We need to talk," he says, and his voice is so serious I sit up. why wasn't he gone? my fantasy was over, I was ready to fully fall asleep._

_"I want to go to sleep."_

_"Harry, you're already asleep. I noticed something the other day, and I wanted to see if I was correct. I couldn't keep myself from seeing you, but...I think that we might be more than just fantasies baby."_

_"what do you mean? I'm just having some fun before bed, and I'm ready to go to sleep now." I say, firmer this time. He sighs, his fingers touching my face a moment before he nods._

_"Okay, fine. I'll owl you, see if you can't come to the Burrow. I'll.... hmmm. I'll address it as... I'll address it to my vicious kitten. I need you to understand though Harry, this is serious and we may need to discuss it with Sirius or my parents." he doesn't give me a chance to answer as he disappears and I find my world fading to black._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE:
> 
> I've decided to give people a voice when it comes to NANOWRIMO, in November. There's a poll up here:
> 
> https://linkto.run/p/XZ92D8PP
> 
> It will end around midnight, October 31st, CMT. 
> 
> COURTING CONUNDRUMS is part of the poll, and I will be backburning all other fics for that month, so if you want updates on this fic make sure you vote!


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story won my NaNoWriMo poll, so this will be the story I update the most in the month of November! I've got Several chapters ready to go this first week, so that I don't feel rushed to get something out every day. Anyway, here's the next chapter!

"George? Did Harry tell you that he was coming?" Ron's voice is puzzled as he walks past my door, and I look up from the cauldron Fred and I was working on wearily.

"You've been jumpy all day, is this what you've been waiting on?" He asks mildly, though I could tell that he was hurt that I was leaving him out of things. again. I was really going to have to talk to Harry and see if I can't get him to let me talk to him about this kind of things. I wouldn't if he didn't want me to, of course, but I really, really wanted to.

"Something like that. I'll try and talk him down, I'm sure he's spitting mad." I murmur distractedly as I look back at the bubbling mess we were creating.

"Go, have your spat. I'll deal with this."

"Thanks, Freddy, Really. I'll try and get him to let me talk to you about at least some things." I assure him as I move out of the room. Harry hadn't flooed, if Ron knew about him being here before I did, which meant that he had apparated in with someone. Sure enough, Sirius was there looking a little solemn and Harry...

He was either mad or sad and until I saw his eyes I couldn't tell which one. His posture was stiff and his mouth was in a grim line but his face was tilted down, away from me, and I hated it.

"Harry Dear! and Sirius. Hello, What can we do for you?" Mom is there, bustling them around the kitchen with her. she turns to the stairs as if to shout, but when she sees Ron and I hovering she stops.

"Right, of course. Well, are you two off on your second outing then?" She asks curiously, giving me a look. I had already asked her help with cooking Harry's Italian flavored chicken for our beach day, so at least she would have a heads up about when we were going to be doing it.

"Er, no, Molly. Could you maybe get Arthur home a half-hour early?" Sirius asks when Harry stays firmly against the counter with his arms crossed and his head down. I want to go greet him, but I was hesitant because this is obviously about the letter that I had sent at nearly three in the morning. I just didn't know why it had taken so long for him to come here unless he was really that upset? I glance at Sirius to see if he could give me any clues, and to my surprise, he's already looking at me. He makes a, go on gesture and I slide around the table to place my hand against harry's shoulder. When he doesn't react more than leaning into me I pull him into a hug in relief.

"Don't scare me like this Baby. you're awfully quiet." I murmur, but it's loud enough Sirius hears me if his raised eyebrow was any indication.

"Harry?" I ask a little louder when all he does is burrow further into my side.

"Maybe you two should take a walk why we wait on Arthur? Not too far, but I'll call for you when we need you." Sirius suggests softly. I agree and quickly bustle him out of the house and to the hill that Fred and I scheme most of our pranks on- we could see the house, but it was rocky and covered in trees so you usually couldn't see us.

"Talk to me, please," I ask as I pull him to sit between my outstretched legs and urge him to lean back on me. he melts into my hold immediately, thankfully, and I tighten my grip on his waist when he finally looks up and I notice how bright red his face is.

"I just... Had to tell Sirius. A lot, for him to believe me. And now he's saying we may have to tell your parents, and that it was strange and uncommon and of course, it's going to happen to me because what impossible thing doesn't, but he wont tell me what's going on and he's scaring me a little with how... vague he's being."

"So is your silence because you're scared of what's going on, embarrassment because you had to discuss your fantastical sex life with your father figure or because he called you odd?" I ask after a moment, my fingers smoothing over his ribs down to his hips and up again in a comforting rhythm.

"I don't... I can't... There are so many things I want to say, and I'm confused and a little scared, and he didn't really tell me anything beyond he was going to curse you and that we had to talk to your parents." His voice is hitched higher and I squeeze his middle with one arm and move to start stroking his hair with the other. he melts immediately, calming as I place a small kiss on his neck.

"It's nothing bad, and it isn't anything to be scared of. There are several things that this... connection we have managed could be. We could be Soul Twins, like Fred and I. we can send each other visuals in our sleep or even awake. And, while it's called soul Twins, it's not uncommon for someone to find more than one person to have the connection with. And they don't have to be family or act like a family, either. Another could be that somewhere along the way someone cursed us, and it just turned into our favor, thankfully."

"Or? There's an or, isn't there," he says when I trail off.

"Or, somewhere along the way, we accidentally created an unbreakable bond and Sirius could have me put in Azkaban," I admit.

"No!" all the tension that had bled out of him springs to life, and I'm shocked when he turns and the anger that I had expected at me is in his eyes, furious at even the thought.

"Baby, I-"

"Don't you baby me right now! anything that might have happened, I would have given my consent either way. Just because it happened out of order doesn't mean that I can't make choices for myself!" He growls out. I'm a little stunned at his vicious defense of me, but it warms me as well, to know that he would stick up for me against anyone.

"You don't even know what it could be," I tell him in amusement. his eyes flare in anger again and I cup his face when he goes to pull away.

"Hey, hey, I’m never going to be mad at you defending me. Just maybe learn what you're defending me against first, okay?" I ask hesitantly. His anger deflates and he wiggles until his legs are thrown over my left leg and he can hug me properly.

"Sirius didn't seem that angry after I threw the kettle at him for cursing you." he murmurs into the silence. 

When I finally stop laughing, he's grinning happily at me from my lap, eyes genuinely happy.

It was adorable, and I couldn't help but lean forward with the hold I still had on his face and kiss his forehead. When I pull away, I have to bite back a groan at the full-on pout he has.

"Why won't you kiss me?" He murmurs petulantly.

"Tell you what. I'll give you a real kiss by the end of the day if Sirius hasn't banned you from ever seeing me again."

"He won’t," he says immediately, so confidently that I almost believe him.

"You don't even know the bonding that they are probably accusing me of," I tell him, running my fingers through his hair again. he doesn't answer with words, just hums happily and lets his eyes close as I scratch against his scalp with my nails. 

"GEORGE WEASLEY!"

I cringe at my mother's yelling and Harry catches my wrist when we are both standing up.

"Hey, none of that. We're going to go into this discussion together, and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure we walk out of it the same way. I just got you, George, I'm not going to lose you." he tells me firmly. I'm again touched by this, and I pull his hand to me and kiss his knuckles.

"I'm glad I have the savior of the wizarding world on my side then." I murmur.

"GEORGE! HARRY! ARTHUR"S HERE, LET'S GO!" 

That's Sirius." Harry gets out, his face pink. I lead him down the path and to the house, Where Sirius was waiting on the porch. he glances down at our clasped hands and his lips go into a thin line, but he doesn't say anything. 

"Alright there Harry?" he asks instead.

"Just fine, as I will always be with George." Harry snips back.

"Harry..."

"You said Arthur was here?" he cuts in, moving past Sirius and tugging me along with a firm tug. 

"Harry, have a seat." Molly gestures to a chair between her and the one Sirius was heading towards and he ignores it, sitting on the bench Fred and I usually shared and pulling me to sit next to him. He plants our joined hands in his lap, leaving no doubt where he was already standing in this conversation.

"Harry... How long have you been having the dreams you told Sirius about?" Arthur asks as he enters the room while flicking a silencer at all the doors and windows.

"Since... The third or fourth year?"

"Did you ever think, at any point, that you were experiencing anything other than a dream?"

"I... no?" Harry glances up at me again and I give him a weak smile.

"I told you it wasn't just Fantasy, baby." I murmur lowly to him.

"I know that, but what is it?"

"Well, if I can do a few spells, I could tell you." Arthur is looking at Sirius now, and he nods once.

"This first one is to see if you've been cursed," Arthur explains, pulling his wand out.

Five minutes later and a dozen spells and his mouth is as grim as Sirius', and if it wasn't for Harry pressed so firmly against me, I would be shaking. Because that meant that, even if by accident, this was my fault. I really hadn't given him a choice and I felt almost sick to my stomach at the thought of it. Sirius had every right to turn me into Azkaban now.

"George..." Mom looks horrified and I feel the tears sting my eyes before I can help it.

"I would never do it on purpose, you know that!" I choke out, and Harry turns to me, full of concern and warmth and, what I had hoped, was love, and his hands cup my cheeks to wipe the tears away.

"George, George! What's going on? Don't cry, please, I..." he trails off as he pulls me into a hug and I latch onto him desperately. He wouldn't want to touch me after he knew. he wouldn't even want to look at me, and it was all my fault. I had fucked this up before we even had a chance. I'd been practically molesting him in his sleep for years and even if he enjoyed it, it was wrong.

"Will someone explain to me what the fuck is going on?" Harry snaps when I gain composure again. The adults are silent for a long moment before Sirius speaks up.

"George, did you ever say the ritual?"

"I'm a Gryffindor, Sirius, We all say the ritual third year." I point out, my tone a little blank. 

"Ritual? I don't remember hearing about a ritual." Harry speaks up immediately.

"The year before you took it a little too far, and Mcgonogall had a crackdown on it. So my year was technically last year. It's an ancient spell, and we were told some wacky story about it binding Merlin and Arthur together, and then we all chanted it in front of the fire while everyone else giggled at us and then we went to bed." I explain, not quite looking at him.

"What ritual?"

"It's a bonding ritual." Sirius cuts in again.

"I figured that one out myself funnily enough Sirius." He snaps. I tighten my grip on his wrists that I had latched onto where he was still cupping my face and his tenseness deflates.

"Just... tell me what's going on, please. You're scaring me," he whispers the last part and that alone makes me straighten up.

"Right, right. We... the ritual is an old one like I said. It was used to tie two people together. a truly dominant and submissive, usually. But it isn't an equal trade. the dominant gets everything. mind body and soul, worldly possessions, the final say in every decision. It's against the law because it was used so often to abuse power. It's not supposed to work unless magic is used, and in Gryffindor tower, it was a bit of a legend that someone someday was going to use it and become the power couple of the world." 

"We did it as kids, but no one ever reacted with it." Sirius pipes up in my defense, to my shock.

"Do you really think that excuses this? If anyone finds out... oh.. George!" My mother finally has enough and bursts into tears and that makes me feel even worse.

"What's the ritual? The words exactly?" Harry asks a tone in his voice I don't like. I give him a sharp look and my father makes an aborted attempt to stop me, but I'm already speaking.

"Well, it's in Latin, but we were told to use the English version and is basically  _ bind the soul, bind the mind, take the body and take the time. Guide them true and guide them wise, hold their hands and open their eyes-" _

_ "With love and luck may bind your life, a kiss to stand the test of time. _ " Harry shocks me by finishing it, and there's stunned silence that has us all looking at him as he buries his head against my chest.

"You said you didn't know it." Sirius accuses.

"I don't, but I heard George recite it. I had a nightmare, and I usually go to sit in the commons for a while after. but I... well, Oliver stopped me at the stairs, but I still heard it. still knew it was you." he's whispering and I’m afraid that not everyone heard him, but when I glance up it's clear they had.

"You were 12?" my father looks a little green and I can't agree more with him.

"Yes."

"This... bond causes things like attraction, and those dreams, and all sorts of... Things."

"I was attracted to George well before then, I just didn't realize exactly how much until I was 13. And do you really think that I would do anything I didn't want to do? I"m a stubborn git and I can throw the imperio off, an ancient spell that hasn't been studied in decades isn't going to do anything." Harry suddenly sits up straighter, my defender, again. Sirius glances at the other two adults, and then they settle on me and I hate the lump in my throat.

"I don't want to."

"It's the easiest way to see how much control you have on him," Mom says softly.

"It's fine, George, whatever it is they think you should do, do it. really." Harry encourages. I clasp our hands together and think a moment. any prank like thing I would ask him to do he would do, just because he loved them and didn't mind being the butt of one. He didn't mind chores or physical activities... but he did hate violence. I release his wand hand and point out the window.

"I want you to shatter the window."

"What? Why?" He asks in perplexion.

"Because I asked you to. Quickly." I say, firmer. I had noticed before how he would shiver when I was stern with him, but I thought it was with attraction. I was relieved to see that he just seemed to get angry at the request, meaning that it was attraction the other times.

"If you want to break your mother’s perfectly good kitchen you do it yourself," he growls, going to jerk his other hand away.

"Easy, easy. It's a test love, remember? we wanted to see you react is all." I murmur, pulling him closer in relief. At least I didn't have to worry about him bowing to my every will. half the fun with Harry was arguing with him. 

"So either Harry is right, or the ritual didn't take all the way. Either way, it's up to you, Sirius." Dad says reluctantly, looking at the man who was quietly studying Harry and I. He gives dad a startled look before he grins.

"I don't think it's up to me, and we all heard exactly what Harry thinks about splitting them up. We will have to inform Dumbledore that they have entered a partnership though, and they may end up having separate quarters..." Sirius trails off and gives us a stern look.

"and no sex. I mean it. Not in fantasies, not in real life, nowhere. I mean it." He says firmly.

"Wait, what?" Harry's face is flaming as he asks.

"Harry, once you turn 16 in these kinds of fantasies, anything that happens to you can happen to your physical body."

"I know," he mutters, ducking his head, and I give him an alarmed look.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I-"

"You knew and you still molested my Godson?" Sirius' first real, angry response comes in a growl and Harry tightens his hold on me.

"He didn't touch me," Harry says a little cheekily. 

"Fucking- Merlin, I didn't need to hear that," Sirius mutters as he stands and bolts for a door.

"Sirius, what about-"

"Be safe, have fun, don't give me grandchildren!" He calls over his shoulder, leaving the room. I glance sideways at Harry and we stand as one, rushing for the side door and out onto the lawn. Harry is chuckling as I move us back up the hill, immediately into the trees. as soon as we were out of sight I spin him happily and press him against the trunk of one, burying my face in his neck as he laughs happily.

"All of that over a binding ritual that I can throw off." Harry murmurs, fingers sliding into my hair and across my shoulders.

"It's much more complicated than that. used to, people would be killed over that ritual. People lost titles and lordships and-"

"And you would never, ever, do anything of the sorts to me." he cuts off firmly. he looked so sure of himself, and I huff.

"So. The last line of the ritual." I muse to him as I skim my lips on his neck.

"A kiss to stand the test of time."

"Mhm. You realize that if we kiss and it's as mind-boggling as I think it's going to be because of this ritual, Things could get out of hand?"

"George, I'm rock hard just imagining you kissing me, I'm not surprised." He says a little breathlessly. I glance up in shock and his eyes are closed, his head tilted back. I kiss his Adam’s apple and he swallows deeply, making me grin.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait? It's the final piece of the deal."

"Dammit, George- ow!" he looks at me in shock after I bite down on the bone in his collar, hard enough it was going to bruise. 

"Don't curse at me, Kitten. Or I'll leave you out here to sort yourself out." I warn him, but I'm sure the gleam in my eye was too playful for him to completely believe me.

"George," he warns back, fingers curling into my shirt.

"Is the middle of the woods really where you want our first kiss?"

"We could be in the potions classroom for all I care!"

"Uh, ew." I make a face and he scowls, pushing at my chest now.

"If you're not going to-"

I cut him off by sealing my lips onto his, getting a grunt of surprise for my efforts. he was sweet and soft and I immediately moan as his lips part underneath mine.

I'm not sure how long that first kiss lasts, but when Harry finally pulls away for some air he's panting while I kiss along his jaw and impatiently pull his shirt to the side to reveal more skin.

"George, I-" he squirms against me, and I oblige his breathless plea by sliding a leg between his. I grunt in surprise as he immediately grinds down onto my thigh with a breathy moan.

"Easy baby," I tell him when his arms loop around my neck and yank me forward, nearly dislodging his place on my leg. his feet barely touched the ground but he didn't seem to mind- he was focused on nipping along my neck, moaning, and rocking against my leg like he was in a race. I ease him back against the tree again, moving with him this time as he latches onto my lips again. I oblige, dominating the kiss immediately and getting a small whimper as I lift my leg higher.

"Tell me to stop right now, Harry." I manage to get out when squirms against me again, unable to lift himself enough now that he couldn't touch the ground.

"No! please, please, I want..." he trails off on another moan as I suck a mark into his neck, and move so that I can slide a hand between us. 

We're a fumbling mess of limbs until I get him adjusted correctly, braced on my thigh and pinned with his hands above his head while one of my hands fumbled with the waist of his jeans. When I finally get them open I focus on finding the places on his neck and chest that make him moan the loudest while I wrap my fingers around him and try and make him come.

It's a point to my pride that it doesn't take near as long as I thought it would, to have him completely shattered in my arms and dazed. I press open-mouthed kisses to his chin and jaw slowly to ease him down, and when he turns to meet my lips with his I allow it a moment before pulling away.

"You okay?" I murmur in concern.

"More than. Merlin, that was..." He trails off to give me a chaste kiss this time, and I shift to let him put his feet on the ground again.

"Your back alright?" I ask as I notice the amount of bark falling to the ground. he glances back in surprise and then twists experimentally. 

"Yeah, maybe a few scratches but-"

"Let me see." I turn him gently and lift the edge of his shirt, noticing the small cuts. I murmur an easy spell that has them cleaned and healed, dropping his shirt.

"We really should have waited for a bed for that," I tell him as I pull him under my arm and start walking with him again.

"Mm, no. We should have done that much sooner though." he accuses playfully, leaning into my side with a happy sigh.

"SO, are you going to tell Ron about what happened today?" I ask as we sit at the top of the hill again. he leans until he has his head in my lap, sighing at my question.

"Maybe not."

"What? Why?" I was surprised, and a little worried. I had hoped to talk about who we were going to tell so that I could mention Fred, but if he wasn't telling anyone...

"Ron would be angry at you and take it out on you irrationally, probably saying something in front of someone and getting you in trouble."

Well, he wasn't wrong.

"You still need to have someone, not an adult and not me to talk to about it, in case you need an outside opinion," I tell him carefully.

"I can try and talk to Nev about it. We grew close fourth year and he's still my sounding board before Ron on a lot of things. Especially now that Hermione isn't in the picture."

"Oh, well so long as you have someone to talk to."

"And you? Are you going to talk to Fred?"

I'm relieved that he understood where I was going with this.

"I am. He's... upset, that I'm keeping secrets from him.

"Well, as long as you're not giving him pensive memories of everything I don't see why you can't talk to him about things." He says reasonably. I shake my head at that answer.

"Most courtings are ... closed."

"He's your brother, and you said before that you're soul twins. why would I make you keep secrets from someone who has been there since your first breath?" he asks in surprise. I chuckle at that.

"Why indeed. Thank you.'' I murmur, running my fingers in his hair. he grins up at me happily and hums.

"So when are we taking out trip?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Sirius wants to go somewhere. the next day?"

"Sure, that works fine. I will let mom know so she knows I'll be taking over the kitchen."

"If you can't figure it out and she helps, I won’t be mad you know."

"I can cook."

"No, you can't, but that's okay because it's not your job." He disagrees immediately. I roll my eyes at his immediate answer and return to threading my fingers in his hair. I'm a little surprised to see Fred walking towards us a few minutes later, and he plops down next to me and leans on the side that Harry isn't laying on.

"Hey."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Mom and dad are arguing. From what I can gather it's over who is talking to the headmaster," he explains, giving me a pointed look. When I glance at Harry he just shrugs and stays sitting with his eyes closed.

"Er, right, so..."


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got four chapters prewrote that I'm going to be updating periodically this weekend and next week, plus whatever I write in the last week of Nanowrimo. So get ready!

"Jacket?"

"Yes."

"Wand?"

"Yes."

"Escape plan?"

"Sirius, I'm going to be with George."

"Yeah, well, George is still on my shit list, so I'm asking," he grumbles as he ruffles my hair. I laugh at him in surprise and duck to give him a hug.

"When are you getting back?" He asks into the hug.

"Er, uh, Do I have a curfew?" I ask in surprise.

"No. But I want you to start taking these." he holds up a potion and I frown immediately.

"What is it?"

"It's a mix of things. a contraceptive, an immune booster, a steroid blocker. it does a lot but basically, if you're going to start having sex like I know you want to, and You're going to push George to, then I want you to be safe about it."

"Sirius!" I whine in embarrassment as my face flames red. I'd seen George last night in our dreams, but he had firmly refused to do more than hold me until my dream self had fallen asleep pouting.

"I mean it. given what the bond is between you two, intentional or not, I don't want things to get out of hand and I have grandkids before you graduate. once you do that what you do is your business. I mean it. Once a week one of the elves will put it on your bedstand or in your trunk, your choice, but you need to take it as soon as you see it. got it?" he tells me firmly. It was the most... well, serious I had seen him, so I give in and nod, taking the bottle from his hands.

"And you didn't think you could give him the parent talk." Remus teases from behind me as I choke the potion down, making me look at Sirius in surprise.

"Remmy!" I throw myself into his hug after handing the empty bottle to Sirius. Remus, for some reason, had left the day we found out about George's accidentally bonding to me.

"Where did you go? I've missed you!"

"I'm sorry cub. I had to go for a little bit. I'll be here when you get back, I promise. I'll be wanting to hear all about it." He reassures me. I frown at that. I had an inkling that the argument they must have had was about me, but I was glad that he was back regardless. I would have to talk to him soon and make sure that we were okay.

"Go have fun Cub. Tell George I say hello," he tells me, releasing me. I nod eagerly and head for the floo. They're already muttering furiously at each other when I reach the fireplace and I wince as I shout out my destination.

"Hey, you." I'm immediately caught up in strong arms and I melt at the way George latches onto me.

"Hey." I spin eagerly and he chuckles as he bends and kisses me. It wasn't as deep as I wanted it to be, but it was definitely scandalous if the giggle his mother gave was anything to go by.

"Harry dear, come give me a hug before you go." She says when Geroge pulls away with a goofy grin.

"Of course." I agree immediately, letting George go and moving to hug his mother.

"Have fun today. Geroge has been told to behave, you let me know if he hasn't," she says in mock seriousness. well, at least they'd gotten over their worry, or were hiding it very well. I nod eagerly and get a pout from George and a laugh from Molly.

"Good, good. go on then." She ushers us out of the house, George with a picnic basket over his arm. He's got an old jean jacket I've never seen him wear before on, and the sweatshirt underneath was an old Christmas jumper from his mother. 

"Ready to go?" He asks just outside of the wards. I nod eagerly and wrap my self around him snugly, making him laugh again as he hugs me back.

"I've missed you too." He murmurs near my ear, making me sigh.

"Okay, now I'm ready," I tell him after a minute, pulling away just enough to reach for his left hand that was holding some kind of large shell. I've barely touched it when he murmurs something I can't hear and we're whisked away. If George’s arm wasn't around me I would have been on my face in the sand. as it was I still slipped and we both laughed at the way one of my feet slides out from underneath me.

"You okay?" he asks when I gain my footing and I pull away from him.

"I'm great. Let's go!" I pull his hand and lead us down the path we had appeared near. there were several sand dunes in the way, and I wanted to see the ocean.

"Slow down Kitten!" George exclaims as it was his turn to slide in the sand. I slow to a walk as he catches up, grumbling about sand in his socks as he does so.

"I want to see the ocean!" I tell him excitedly as we round a sand dune, only to see another one blocking our way.

"You've never seen the ocean?" he says with some surprise.

"No, have you?"

"Yeah, mom and dad take us to one every summer for at least a day. we've camped on the beach before. It's not far from the house, actually, so we can apparate down there or make a portkey without getting in trouble. It's usually pretty crowded with magical though, so I didn't want to go to that one first. if this is your first look I'm doubly glad, there would have been a mob of people." he muses to himself as he pulls me closer. I let him wind his arm over my shoulders willingly, snuggling in closer to his side. I'd missed him, even if I saw him after I went to bed last night.

"What are we going to do when we go back to Hogwarts?" I ask out loud.

"What do you mean?"

"I can barely go a few hours without seeing you, and we have to go at least four, if not more in school. plus quidditch and testing and detentions...."

"Ah. Well, We will just have to make sure we make time for each other. deal?" 

"Deal. Look!" 

The ocean was finally in view and I break out from underneath his arm to rush forward, thrilled. 

it went on forever. It made me feel like I could touch the horizon with the way the blue stretched on, and then touched the cloudy grey sky that was hovering over me and the water. I knew it was going to be cold, but I didn't care. the water was crashing into the sand just a few feet away, and I quickly kick off my shoes and socks and roll my pants up as high as they would go. I rush forward, laughing when I felt the cold, wet sand and throwing my arms out when the water splashed around my bare feet, shouting in excitement. 

It takes me a few minutes, longer then it should have, to realize that I was the only one in the water. I spin, searching frantically, only to see George sitting on a blanket that must have been in his basket and already having a flask of some kind with what looked like water in it sitting on it with him. his shoes were kicked off, as well, and he was working on rolling his jeans up. I watch him concentrate on what he was doing until he glances up. the smirk he gives me makes me nearly weak in the knees.

"Come on!" I call out to cover my reaction. He chuckles at me and hoists himself up, taking the flask as he makes his way to me. he pulls his wand and shoots a spell at me that has me yelping in surprise before I realize the water hitting me now feels warm instead of ice-cold. 

"oh! Thank you." I tell him as he joins me standing the pull and push of the waves. 

"Mhm. I figured you'd forgotten, your lips were turning blue. Drink." he urges me to take the drink in his hand and I take a swig, surprised to feel that it was slightly warm too.

"The water is warm?"

"It's cold outside. I have hot chocolate too but mum insisted we take water to stay hydrated today since we're playing in saltwater," he explains. I nod at that, figuring that was something that Molly would definitely do. I look at George sideways as I take another drink and I'm amused when he takes three large steps away from me.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop! I'm not going any farther than here into that water with being as cold as it is," he says firmly, hands raised in a defensive stance. I pout at that, but nod in acceptance. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to be cold and miserable.

"I didn't realize it was so windy," I comment as the wind catches my hair and tosses it again. it was more than a mess now, it was borderline disastrous but George didn't seem to mind as he comes over and cards his fingers in it.

"It was supposed to be sunny here too," he comments with a frown, looking around.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it was supposed to be cold but sunny all day here. Or at least that's what Kingsley told me." He explains, pulling me close to his chest. I hum happily, eager to share the warmth he was giving off against the cold. a few more minutes of this and he lifts me off my feet, making laugh in delight as he spins me before carrying me off towards the blanket again.

"What are you doing?" I ask in surprise.

'I'm going to try and make a driftwood fire. They're supposed to be pretty, and I don't like how blue you're getting even with the charms, so stay away from the water, okay?" HE says, and he seems genuinely worried. I frown up at him, realizing that this was seriously making him anxious.

"Yeah, sure, I'll curl up here and wait on you.” I agree. He pauses to cup my face and kiss my cheeks in thanks before he takes off back towards the sand dunes, whistling. I realize quickly why he's done it because I tense as soon as he's out of sight, even if he was still in hearing range. I glance around as I take in the ocean again. Yes, it was beautiful, but what was setting him off so much? the cold? Places get cold all the time. so the Weather? Kingsley has been wrong before unless he got the information by someone who knew the weather better than him. why was it so important?

I shrug to myself and settle in more to the blanket, casting a heating charm on it before wrapping the new one in the basket around my shoulders and casting onto that one, too. George is whistling some kind of upbeat tune when it cuts off abruptly and I tense, twisting to face the way the whistling had come from. There's another moment of silence before I hear pounding feet.

"Harry! Harry, we're leaving, now!" George is frantic as he skids around the sand dune. he latches onto my middle, terrifying me as he yanks me off my feet and pulls the shell out of the basket.

"Kings!" He shouts as he wraps my fingers around the shell so tightly it hurts.

Nothing happens.

"No no no no no. Kings! Kings!" He's almost hysteric now, obviously trying to activate the portkey. I finally loosen his grip on my hand and the portkey and make him drop it.

"What's wrong?"

"We have to go. now. We need to...let's head this way. leave our things, and carry your wand in your hand. I mean it!" He says fiercely, and his tone is one I hadn't heard before.

"George?" I ask, and I hate how my voice cracks as I say it.

"Hey, baby, I'm sorry. I'm angry, and I'm afraid for you, but we're fine, okay? We're going to be okay. we need to stick to the beach and eventually we'll find a ferry. We aren't where we are supposed to be." he pulls me tightly to his side and shares my body heat with me as we begin walking. I cast the heating charm on his jacket and he gives me a grim kind of smile as we move. and he was right to. none of the charms seems to be working.

"You know where we are?" I ask a few minutes later.

"I do. Do you think you can walk any faster?" he asks, glancing towards the trees and sand dunes again.

"My feet are numb. I Didn't grab my shoes." I admit to him, glancing down at the cold sand and then over our shoulders towards where we had left our things, though I can't see them now.

"It's okay, that's okay. just keep this blanket on alright?" he shifts it higher on my shoulders even as he says so, though the cold was still seeping through. He glances towards the trees again and curses.

"What?" I turn to look as well and I'm shocked. 

There was an old, stone building that jutted straight up into the air like a tower of Hogwarts, except that was the only part of the building that was visible above ground. it towered over the few trees that were dead around it, and the live trees that had lined the edge of the shore were gone, creating a kind of clearing that clearly led to the building. There was frost coming off of it in places and it looked like it was falling apart.

"What is that? Where are we?" 

"Somebody switched out our portkey. I didn't notice at first because I haven't ever been to the beach we were supposed to be going to."

"George," I warn as I turn to look up at him and away from the frozen building. he glances down at me even as he starts tugging me to move again.

"If I'm right, that's Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" I squeak out, spinning to face the building again.

"But..."

"I know. Someone in the ministry obviously wanted us on this island. The Ferry should be around here shortly. "

"But... The dementors will have noticed me by now." I point out to him as we rush as fast as we could in our bare feet.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I didn't realize... I thought we were safe, even when I thought something was off. I just wanted us to have a good time..."

"Hey, come on. how the fuck were you supposed to know someone had set us up like this?" I ask, conjuring Prongs and sending him across the water with a thought. George starts cursing again and casts his own charm, setting a fox to trot happily around our feet and warming us up slightly.

"there, the Ferry!" I call out a few minutes later, though the term ferry was relative. it was a small boat with no one manning it and a small building set onto a dock. as we approached five people poured out of the building, wands raised.

"Hands up!" a voice barks. I go to argue back when George nudges me into doing as we were asked. we stop before we can reach the dock and the wizards, who were all wearing auror colors.

"Who the hell are you?" One of them demands, marching forward and snatching our wands away. the fox fades out and I'm struck again with the force of the cold.

"Harry Potter and George Weasley," I answer before George can.

"And I'm the queen. Back inside!" The greasy man in front of us snaps. his hair was unclean, his eyes were a little wild and his teether was orange and crooked. He motions to the guards and one moves to take George, pulling him under protest into the docks building and leaving me alone to be manhandled by the greasy git in front of me.

" I will not! If you wait another five minutes Kingsley will be sending us -"

"I'm not going to tell you again before I make you get in there. back to your cells!" he roars, stalking forward. before I can do anything he's dragging me back towards the building-prison- by my hair, yanking me off my feet. I let out a startled yelp as I begin fighting, scratching and clawing at the hand fisted in my hair.

"Dammit all Yarlow, let him go!" 

a new voice breaks into the cacophony of sound me, and the man had been making and I'm dropped uncaringly to the ground with a snarl from the man. a swift kick is given to my side as well and I'm horrified to feel one of my ribs give with it.

"IF this is Harry Potter-"

"What the fuck would potter be doing on this island? Someone snuck in polyjuice is all, and I'll figure out who it is when I go find an empty cell!"

"-If it is potter, it doesn't hurt to wait for a few minutes to make sure." the smoother voice is approaching me and I lift my head to see who it is. 

"Stay down!" The greasy man growls, lifting his foot like he's going to kick me again. before he can make contact a light soars in over the water and lands in front of me. It's a lynx, Kingsley's Patronus.

"Get to the dock, I’ll be there in 10 minutes." Kingsley's words are short and clipped, but it's obviously him.

"How in merlin did they get two wands?" the greasy man asks, seeming to completely ignore the Patronus.

"Yarlow! You heard the ministers Patronus-"

"So one of our prisoners summoned the minister. that doesn't mean they're free to take wands as they please and walk around." he cuts off the man speaking reason again and I watch in horror as both mine and George's wands are snapped. 

"Fucking christ Yarlow. if this really is Potter you're a dead man." a new voice mutters.

"It's not, so shut the fuck up and help me get them inside." A hand grabs my hair again and despite the burning, stabbing pain in my side I start fighting again. a red light goes off, and the hand drops me as a body hits the ground. I scramble away from him, despite my heaving side and the pain, and there are a few shouts from where the stunner had come from. I'm confused as to why there are lights going off until the frost grows around me and my vision is blocked by swirling cloaks. I shout in shock when burning cold fingers wrap around my chin, lifting my head. the gaping mouth opens, and I hear the distant screaming of my mother, but for the first time, the dementor jerks back and a small red light in their eyes appears.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" there's finally, finally a Patronus shoved between me and the dementor and the creature is screaming away. seconds later George is hovering over me with a worried, furious look on his face.

"Fuck Harry, I'm sorry." he murmurs as he touches my face before he helps me sit up again. I groan at the movement.

"What's wrong?"

"He cracked something when he kicked me. Hurts." I tell him, using his shoulder as leverage to stand up. I wobble a second but stay standing. the four others are facing us, wands raised halfway but making no move to stop us. obviously one of them had stunned Yarlow though, and another still had a dog of some kind prancing around the group of us.

"If he isn't charged with assault when Kingsley gets here, I'll kill him." George sounds serious as he stands and I'm shocked, but glancing at his face shows he meant every word of it.

"Listen, no one is supposed to be able to portkey here except the minister. He's not right for snapping wands or trying to hurt you, but he's right that you shouldn't be here and walking around." the man who had tried reasoning with Yarlow speaks up. He's younger, just graduated, from the academy. I even vaguely recognize him as a Hufflepuff seventh year my first year. 

"You just snapped our wands, I have a broken rib and George is too worried about me to be any real threat. and, I just nearly got kissed. would we go inside until Kingsley gets here?" I ask tiredly, motioning for the building on the dock. there's a hesitation from all of them but eventually, we're led into the building. a fire is roaring and I melt in front of it happily, sighing as I feel the warmth seeping into my bones. there's some murmuring behind me and then the blanket that had fallen off of me is back on my shoulders, Georges arms wrapping under my arms and high on my chest to avoid the lower rib I could feel moving and causing pain.

"I'm so, so sorry." he murmurs near my ear.

"None of that! You didn't know." I tell him immediately, turning to face him. his arms drop immediately to settle on my hips and I lean forward. he makes a grunting noise when I press my cold cheek and nose against his neck.

"You didn't know, and that Yarlow bastard isn't your fault. I mean it. I'm just sorry that our second date and we went to Azkaban already. especially with what happened a few days ago." I'm talking against his skin but I'm sure he's heard me.

"It crossed my mind that maybe Sirius changed his mind, but he wouldn't have sent you with me and I know he hates this place." He admits. well, at least he felt comfortable telling me things like that, even if it was wrong.

"When we get home I want to get my rib fixed, and then I just want a quiet night in. Maybe even convince your mom to let you stay the night, or me stay over. maybe more me stay over because Fred can be an unwilling chaperone." I murmur. 

"I'd... I'd like that." he finally says. before we can discuss anything more, the door is thrown open and there's Kingsley, striding in with all the grace of an enraged bull. and he looked it, too.

"Harry?"

"Over Here, kings. but you might want to talk to them first." I call out from where I was snuggled against George.

"Why?" he snaps, but he's already facing the four sheet white guards.

"we, uh, you see-" 

"Full sentences, explain exactly why Harry thinks that you have something you need to tell me." 

"Yarlow attacked them, said they couldn't be Harry Potter. that he wouldn't be allowed on the island. he started dragging Potter by the hair and when he dropped him he kicked him, and then when your Patronus went off he snapped their wands saying they were just prisoners who got ahold of wands. he grabbed Potter again and I stunned him. the patrol was close by and came to investigate and nearly kissed... It nearly kissed Potter." the level headed one finally speaks up after a moment of scared silence.

"He what- Harry, are you okay?" Kingsley is hovering over George and I quite suddenly and I blink up at him.

"He broke something, a rib I think."

Kingsley is cursing as he whirls again to face the men.

"Where's Yarlow?"

"Still stunned outside."

"Good. Have him brought to the ministry, put him in a holding cell. I want to know what the fuck he thought he was doing." 

A hand settles on George and I's shoulders much gentler then I expected.

"Harry, you think you can portkey out? I'll floo Pomfrey from my office." He asks, much kinder than before. 

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Good. Here." He holds out what I realize is a tie. I glance at his outfit and notice it must be the one he was wearing before. I lean more into George when he wraps an arm around my back to hold me against him, and we both touch the tie before we're yanked into the minister’s office. despite Georges hold on me my knees still hit the ground jarringly as I cry out in surprise at how much it had hurt.

"Stay here." I hear Kingsley tell George before the fire goes off behind me somewhere. I feel Georges hands in my hair while I try and calm down and eventually I can sit up fully.

"Do you think Kingsley would mind if we flooed home?" George asks, motioning to the floo.

"You'd be blocking it for him to come back." I point out, but I stand and head for Kingsley's desk.

"Harry?"

"Your dads at work right?" I ask as I pull the pink memo paper closer to the edge of the desk. I address it on the correct line and scribble out a note for Arthur to get to Kingsley’s office immediately, and then send it off after tapping the ministers seal to it.

"That's highly illegal," George says, but he sounds more amused than anything.

"I've done it before, Kingsley knows I do it." I shrug off his concern for my getting in trouble for it and sit in Kingsley’s chair, relieving some of the aches in my side.

"Harry?"

"I'm okay. just need my rib fixed." I assure him. he doesn't look convinced but he also doesn't say anything else though he does reach over from his seat on the desk and begin playing with my hair again.

"Mr. Potter, you have a knack for trouble." is the first thing Pomfrey says when she enters the room, making me smile at her.

"Only because I know I have you to fix me up," I assure her as she huffs.

"I sent a note off to Arthur, bu could you floo molly and Sirius?" I ask Kingsley before he can leave from in front of the floo. 

"Did you use my seal again?"

"Yes."

"Good, it'll move faster. He's probably already in the lift." he's muttering to himself as he turns back to the floo. Pomfrey shoves some kind of potion under my nose as she flicks her wand at me.

"Drink, now."

"Yes, ma'am." I salute her with the vial and she can't hide the grin she's trying to smother as I do so. When I've finished the vial it's snatched from me and another spell hits me. I feel bandages coiling around my middle and it suddenly doesn't hurt nearly as much.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome, Mister Potter. They will hurt for a few more hours but you'll be good as new by tomorrow morning. put this on the bruising from the broken rib and any other bruises you may have." she assures me, eyes flicking to my forehead before heading to the fireplace again. she hands a piece of paper to Kingsley as she leaves but I focus on George.

"I have a bruise on my face?"

"I think it's where you hit the ground when you turned to catch yourself after he dropped you," he tells me, fingers brushing near my temple and making me realize that it did indeed hurt.

"Lovely."

There's a knock on the door as Kingsley reaches his desk and he calls for it to open as George helps me stand.

"George! Harry, what's wrong?" Arthur comes striding in with a worried looking undersecretary behind him.

"I'm so sorry Minister Shackabolt, but he insisted-"

"I called for him, it's fine, let him in and close the door." Kingsley cuts the poor girl off before she can finish. She hurries to do just that as Arthur pulls George into a hug.

"I've called your wife, I couldn't get ahold of Sirius though," Kingsley says a beat before Molly appears in the fire, stepping out she greets Arthur and George with a hug.

"Kreacher?" I call out as I settle into a chair on the proper side of the desk. George perches on the arm of it and I grin up at him.

"Yes?" the elf pops in, and he doesn't look happy but at least he isn't insulting.

"Where's Sirius?"

"Fighting with his wolf."

"You go and tell them both that I'm hurt and in Kingsley's office waiting for them," I tell him firmly, annoyed that he would ignore a floo call just because they were bickering again.

"That's not very nice kitten," George says, but he sounds more amused than anything and I smirk at him.

"It's effective, watch." I motion to the floo and I was right, less than 30 seconds later both of them were tumbling through the floo in a frenzy.

It took a while to calm everyone down, and even longer to explain what happened. Eventually, the whole story was told, however, and the whole group had sobered.

"So someone wanted us to go to the island, knowing that Yarlow, or someone, would think we were just trying to escape and put us in the building. or that a dementor could find us."

"But they shouldn't have been able to make a portkey to do so."

"Not unless they got ahold of the one that you made for George and I and altered it. it has your magical signature so it would register in the wards as you making it." I point out as I shift in my seat. it was uncomfortably tight around my middle and I was having trouble finding a spot to sit in place long. 

"This is true, but it only sat for a few hours before Arthur came and picked it up, and while I was in and out of my office that kind of magic takes time."

"Someone wanted us taken care of though, and now Harry and I are wandless." George points out. Kingsley's face hardens into fury again.

"Yes, well, Yarlow is going to be paying not only for your medical visit today but to replace the wands as well. I might even fake a few therapist visits for you to make him pay you even more money. he had no right to treat you like he id and I'm putting the whole island under investigation because he obviously does it a lot if they allowed it to escalate that far without stopping him." Kingsley assures me.

"Yarlow was always a nasty asshole. he would beat anyone who didn't follow 'his' rules." Sirius points out helpfully. Kingsley grunts in annoyance and rubs at his face tiredly.

"Wonderful. this will be a great week. Harry, are you feeling better?"

"Yes. it's a little uncomfortable to sit here, but It doesn't hurt near as much anymore, thank you." I assure him.

"Oh, you poor dear. I'm so sorry that this turned out this way! We will have to schedule-"

"No, we aren't. Harry and I already talked. he doesn't want to be left alone right now so we want to spend the rest of the day together, just us as we had planned anyway. he was also hoping to get permission to have one of us stay over a the others for the night, but realized that was probably pushing it. he did suggest the burrow since I share a room with Fred and will have a chaperone as he called it for the night." George cuts in quickly. 

"We will talk about it," Sirius says after a long look shared with Remus. 

"You're always welcome in the house, Harry, though I would be putting spells on the doorways and the bed if you do end up staying," Arthur says, equal parts understanding and authoritative. I was impressed.

"For now, I think you should go to the burrow anyway. you can lay down o the couch in the living room together and you can sleep off this funk that the island has put you in and we were going to have dinner with them anyway so there won’t be any need to be changing houses all day." Sirius suggests. 

"And you two can finish screaming at each other over whatever it is that pissed Remus off." I point out as I stand with George's help. Sirius sputters but I ignore him, taking the powder George offers me and stepping through to the Burrow. I snag the plate of the chocolate chip goodies on the table and head for the living room as George quickly collects us a large glass of milk. we're wrapped up together in a throw blanket on the couch in no time, sharing the milk and cookies in peaceful silence, the occasional thump, shout, or shuffling above us letting us know we aren't alone in the house. 

sometime later Molly comes through the fireplace, gives us a quick smile as she levitates the dishes away. there's a silencing spell put on the door and the thumping above us goes quiet. George talks me into laying down with my back of the couch. He sets up the fire and starts it since it wasn't lit, it being the middle of the summer. But we were both still cold and didn't feel warm enough yet. he casts a warming charm on the blanket draped over me and then slides onto the couch with me so that he can stretch out in front of me, wrapping me up close. we talk quietly about exactly how we could convince everyone that I should stay over. his fingers brush along my sides, running from my hip to the bandages around my middle in a slow caress until he's managed to lull me asleep. I was exhausted and even if I tried to hide it I knew that he knew I had been terrified there for a moment when Yarlow had had me by the hair and was dragging me to the prison filled with my literal worst fear.


End file.
